Design of A Vertical Thermosyphon Reboiler

Soni Prashant C. Dept. of Chemical Engg. And Tech., Institute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi221005. Jigisha Parikh and Deepak Jain Dept. of Chemical Engg., Sarvajanik College of Engg. And Tech., Athwalines, Surat-395001. Introduction Thermpsyphon reboilers play a wide role in chemical industry, which provides a simple, low maintenance design for distillation tower reboiler system. The thermosyphon reboiler contains the two endearing qualities of the evaporator, namely mechanical simplicity and operation in the nucleate boiling regime with its attractive high fluxes [Mckee Hugh R. , 1970]. These reboilers require rational design procedure as several flow patterns manifests during the heat transfer to a flowing two phase boiling mixture, which in-turn depends upon the flow rates, physical properties of the components, pipe diameter and orientation. The circulation rate, heat-transfer rate and pressure drop all are interrelated, and hence iterative design procedures must be used [Johnson D.L. and Yukawa Y., 1979] The advantages and disadvantages of thermosyphon reboiler [Frank O. and Pricket R.D, 1973] are listed in table 1. Table 1: Advantages and Disadvantages of thermosyphon reboiler Advantages: Cheapest reboiler installation in terms of capital and operating cost Permits simple, compact piping arrangement Provides excellent thermal performance

Disadvantages: Not suitable for viscous or solid bearing fluids More heat transfer area required for vacuum operation Not specified for pressure below 0.3 bar Column base must be elevated to provide the hydrostatic head required for the thermosyphon effect. This increases the cost of the column supporting structure.

Features of Construction In thermosyphon reboilers, performance is determined by the interrelated thermal and hydraulic characteristics, of the reboiler and the interconnecting piping. Circulation is established through the reboiler by the difference between the hydraulic head of the liquid in the column and of the two phase mixture in the reboiler. Raising the liquid level in the column, relative to the reboiler increases this difference in hydrostatic head and thus increases the rate at which the fluid to be vaporized flows through the reboiler. Hence the hydraulic characteristics as well as heat transfer must be taken into the consideration while designing the reboiler. [Frank O. and Prickett R.D, 1973] [Martin R. and Sloley A.W., 1995]

Classification of thermosyphon reboiler (a) According to orientation : o Vertical thermosyphon reboiler o Horizontal thermosyphon reboiler (b) According to the flow pattern o Once-through circulation o Natural circulation Design Procedure Process Design Aspects Fairs method for vertical thermosyphon is based on semi-empirical correlation of experimental data, and is stated to predict that heat transfer coefficients 30 %, which is about the same range of accuracy for the most boiling coefficient data. Fairs method recognizes two-phase flow in the reboiler, and points out that slug type flow is most predominate, and that mist flow should be avoided [Ludwig]. Assumptions in the design procedure: Perfect mixing of vapor in the tower sump vapor space. Perfect vapor-liquid separation of return material from the thermosyphon, in the column space. Steady state fluid flow regimes Full disengagement of vapor generated inside the liquid in the tower sump No leakage from tower internals and across the sump baffles Constant heat flux condition exists throughout the length of the reboiler tube. The top tube sheet of the reboiler is in the line with the liquid level in the fractionator At any point in the two-phase region along the tube, thermodynamic equilibrium exist between saturated liquid and vapor corresponding to the pressure at that point

Design Algorithm: Refer Flowchart 1. Parameters affecting: The performance of thermosyphon reboiler is mainly affected by the nature of fluid (mainly on viscosity) and the liquid head in the reboiler [Orrell W.H., 1973]. At low liquid levels, the liquid feed entering the reboiler is nearly completely vaporized. In this situation, the liquid heating zone is small and nucleate boiling occurs almost immediately. In the reboiler above the nucleate boiling zone, mist flow develops and heat transfer will superheat the gas. In this mist flow zone, the temperature rise can be significant, because of the gas superheating, which results in a low overall temperature difference and low overall heat transfer coefficient. This explains the poor performance of the reboiler [Johnson D. L. and Yukawa Y. . 1979] An increase in the liquid driving head results in a higher boiling point at the bottom of the reboiler. Since the inlet liquid must be preheated to a higher temperature to initiate heating zone. Due to the low heat transfer coefficient in the liquid heating zone, less area is available for nucleate boiling heat transfer; finally resulting a decrease in the overall heat transfer coefficient for the reboiler [Johnson D.L. and Yukawa Y., 1979]

The optimum practical liquid driving head for vertical reboilers operating at atmospheric pressure or higher is top tube sheet level. For the vacuum reboiler it is about 50 % of the tube length. Figure 2 shows the effect of liquid level on a vertical thermosyphon reboiler. Moreover, to prevent surging to the reboiler, avoid subjecting heavy components (viscous in nature) to repeated thermal contacts [Shah G.C., 1979]. Maximum heat flux: As the vapor-liquid mixture flows through the reboiler tube, the flow is not continuous and smooth but is rather pulsating. The amplitude of pulsation is controlled by the rate of heat flux and at sufficiently high values of heat flux, the amplitude of pulsation is large enough so that the down-flow pulse sucks

the vapor into the compartment below the tubes resulting in vapor locking. This corresponds to the maximum permissible heat flux and critical temperature difference to be used in any reboiler design [Furzer Ian A., 1990] This maximum heat flux is found to be dependent on the roughness of the surface and the number of nucleation sites. The value of the heat flux in pool boiling provide the global maximum of the CHF when the reduced pressure is from 0.25 to 0.30. The principle characteristics of a vertical thermosyphon reboiler near the maximum heat flux are as follows: (a) (b) (c) (d) The temperature of the in and out of the reboiler is equal. There is a temperature pinch condition near the tube entry The fraction of the tube length in the single-phase is small The mass flux in the tubes decreases with increasing heat flux

Example Tube side: Pure liquid cyclopean Shell Side: Steam Properties of the fluid: L L L CpL kw = = = = = 152.6 Btu/lb 1.258 lb/ft.hr 46.12 lb/ft3 0.5498 Btu/lbF 218 Btu/ft.hr.F G G kl = = = = 0.0388 pdl/ft. 0.02036 lb/ft.hr 0.1855 lb/ft3 0.09521 Btu/ft.hr F

Equipment Data: d0 DI LI LBD = = = = 0.0625 ft 0.5054 ft 100 ft 5 ft di DE LE p = = = = 0.05183 ft 0.835 ft 50 ft 0.08333 ft

Calculation Results: hfi = hs = Nt = %vaporization Pressure head Pressure loss 1000 Btu/ft2.hr.F 2411.73 Btu/ft2.hr.F 192 = 15 % = 1.6014 psig = 1.463 psig hfs = Tam = Ui = 2411.73 Btu/ft2.hr.F 42 F 289.5 Btu/ft2.hr.F

Comparison of results by Kerns method: Nt = 150 Pressure head = Pressure loss = Result and Discussion Fairs method considered both nucleate and convective contribution owing to presence of two-phase. Whereas Kerns method has no such consideration for the two=phase flow of the fluid. Fairs method thus has an upper hand. It is seen that to design a thermosyphon reboiler using hand calculations would be tedious and time consuming. The iterative nature of the procedure lends itself to solution by computers. Hence, the computer program not only saves from the tedious hand calculations but also helps in obtaining the optimum design for the thermosyphon reboilers. Nomenclature CpL do Di DI DE Gt Hi hfi hfs jfli kL kL L = = = = = = = = = = = = = Specific heat of liquid outside diameter of the tube. inside diameter of the tube shell inner diameter diameter of the outlet pipe to the reboiler mass flow rate heat transfer coefficient frictional heat transfer coefficient on tube side frictional heat transfer coefficient on the shell side friction factors for reboiler tubes thermal conductivity of the liquid thermal conductivity of the wall two-hase heating section Ui 1.6014 psig 1.3516 psig = 300 Btu/ft2.hr.F

Li Lbc Lbd LI LE Mg Mt Mti Nt p Pfi RL Spi Tam Ui %V Xtt

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

incremental length single phase heating section total tube length length of the inlet pipe to the reboiler length of the out pipe to the reboiler flow rate of vapor total flow rate calculated total flow rate Number of tubes tube pitch, ft pressure loss due to friction in each increment liquid volume fraction static pressure loss mean temperature difference overall heat transfer coefficient % vaporization Lockhart and Martinelli parameter

Greek letters: 2 = = = = two phase pressure loss density (Suffix L for liquid and G for vapor) viscosity (Suffix L for liquid and G for vapor) surface tension

References Fair James R., Vaporizer and Reboiler Design Part 1 , Chem. Engg., July 8, 119-124 (1963) Frank O. and Prickett R.D., Designing Vertical Thermosyphon Reboiler, Chem. Engg., Sept 3 107 110 (1973). Furzer Ian A., Vertical Thermosyphon Reboilers, Maximum Heart Flux and Separation Efficiency, Ind. Engg. Chem. Res., 29 1396-1404 (1990). Johnson D.L. and Yukawa Y., Vertical Thermosyphon Reboilers in Vacuum Service, Chem Engg. Prog., July 47-52 (1979). Ludwig, Applied Process Design for chemical and Petrochemical plants, Vol-3 3rd ed., London: Gulf publishing Co., (1995), pp63-68, 132-158. Martin R. and Sloley A.W., Effectively design and Simulate Thermosyphon Reboiler System, Hydro. Proc., June 101-110 (1995). Mckee Hugh R., Thermosyphon Reboilers A review, Indus. And Engg. Chemistry, Vol-62 No. 12 Dec 76-82 (1970). Orrell W.H., Physical Consideration in Designing Vertical Thermosyphon Reboilers, Chem Engg., Sept 17 120-122 (1973) Shah G.C., Troubleshooting Reboilers systems, Chem. Engg. Prog., July 53-58 (1979). Reference Book: Indian Chemical Engineering Congress 2000 Technical Sessions Transcriptions Volume I, Calcutta, December 18 21, 2000